HealthData Management

NEWSLINE

B Y JOSEPH GOEDERT

Health Care Counters I.T. Hiring Expectations WORKFORCE

The industry is one of a handful that manage to buck the 2012 trend in the information technology job market.

I. T. job market growth in a number of industries slowed to 4,200 new jobs in December versus 8,700 added jobs in No- vember, according to recent BLS data. For the year 2012, there was a gain of 62,500 I. T. jobs, but he slow growth trend at the end of the year is a cause for concern. The total number of individuals (civilian non-institution-al) looking for a job in December 2011 was 6,135,000 versus 6,750,000 in December 2012—an increase of 615,000.

“If a robust recovery does not oc-
cur, as some predict, it will not be a
good time to be looking for a new job,”
said Victor Janulaitis, CEO of Janco
Associates, a management consult-
ing firm that focuses on management
information systems. “Granted there
were 21,800 I. T. jobs added in the last
three months, however, that number
of new jobs is not enough to ease our
concerns.”
Janco continues to be concerned
that the data shows the labor market
participation rate is at a record-low
level and recovery may not be around the corner. The macro trend
for labor participation since 2008 is down by 1. 4 percent, which
translates to approximately 3. 8 million people who are excluded
from the labor force calculation. “The year-to-year comparison of
workforce participation shows how deep a hole we are in. Until
those percentages turn around the recovery will be weak at best, I. T.

CORRECTION In a story that ran on page 8 in the January Newsline section, Steven Tolle, senior vice president of solutions management at Merge Healthcare, was misidentified in the picture accompanying the story.

demand will be dampened, and overall I. T. employment opportuni-
ties will remain at very low levels.”
The health care and financial services job market, however,
has showed slight growth. In 2012, health care saw a 2. 49 percent
growth, and finance and insurance saw a 1. 14 percent growth. Janco
contends that health care is one area where I. T. pros can go with the
flow and find job opportunities and
says the implementation of electronic
health records is one of the driving
forces in the increased opportunities
in this area.

In a continuing survey of CIOs
across a number of industries, Janco
has found many are cautious but feel
that overall hiring could improve in
2013. CIOs are keeping their current
overall FTE (full time equivalent)
headcounts level to slightly down
and are looking to eliminate consul-
tants and contractors along with any
marginal activities their own staffs are
working on, Janco says. “Few CIOs are
looking to hire within the next three
months. These CIOs are looking for particular sets of skills to meet
the demands of mobile computing and toward implementation
processes which will support users to use their own personal devic-
es—BYOD—to minimize capital expenditures and improve ROI.”
Another recent survey showed slightly more promising results.
According to a survey by Dice, a technology and engineering career
community, 21 percent of hiring managers and recruiters reported
they are likely to hire “substantially” more tech employees in the
first half of 2013, and another 43 percent have plans for “slightly”
more tech hiring over that same time frame.